Horus Rising (includes spoilers)
My thanks go to Castus for lending me his copy of the book. I must admit, I have mentioned on a few occasions that if I were to get more in to the hobby then the novels would be my likely avenue.
Thoroughly enjoyed the book - it was nice to see the Space Marines with a degree of feeling and emotion. I found some of the time jumps a little bit of a niggle as it read as if Abnett got bored and wanted to move on to the next segment as quickly as he could. But the writing is fast paced and engaging, which suits me perfectly; albeit perhaps too fast a pace!
Not so fond of the Megarachnid as a race, yes, they reek of Tyranids they really do! Was also not overly fond of Garviel Loken as the 'lead' character. I preferred Tarik Torgaddon and Saul Tarvitz. I liked the persona of Horus and the Mournival, they were enjoyable segments in my opinion. A calm, 'caring' and thoughful Horus is not the perspective we see 99.9% of the time, so it was refreshing to read. And you can really get the feel as to how Abaddon started off and how his personality (as we know it) could progress.
Lucius (of 'The Eternal' fame) was a real piece of work and I thought Abnett wrote him well and the Emperor's Children characters as a whole come to think of it.
The segments involving the Interex were a tad uninspiring for me; I found myself portraying them as a bit of a lifeless race and was actually routing for the Warmaster to smash their skulls!
Looking forward to borrowing the next book, Castus!
:)